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Shunt/Minibot
The Shunt Minibot was one of several minibots released as merchandise. Like the other House robots, Shunt was one of the first generation of minibots, released in 2001. Features Like many of the first generation minibots, this toy does not have any moving weaponry. Both the axe and the battle-damaged scoop are static. This toy is based on the Series 3-7 version of Shunt, evident by the iconic "diamond-edged" axe. The side wheels are simply for decoration, as there is a pullback motor on the underneath of this toy with two smaller wheels. The scoop is made from a softer material than the die-cast bodywork, and the exhaust pipe is vulnerable to coming off during play. Releases Shunt and Razer.png|Shunt in its two-pack with Razer Pack3.jpg|Shunt in its three-pack Minibox.jpg|Shunt in a five-pack Minibox2.jpg|Shunt in another five-pack The Shunt minibot is one of the most common in the range, due to being released a number of times. Originally, Shunt was released in a three-pack with Matilda and Pussycat. It would later be released in a two-pack with Razer, under the more up-to-date Robot Wars branding. Shunt would later feature in all three different five-packs of minibots. These included: *Shunt, Matilda, Panic Attack, Chaos 2 and Dead Metal. *Shunt, Razer, Hypno-Disc, Sir Killalot, and Wheely Big Cheese. *Shunt, Gemini, Sgt. Bash, Tornado and Firestorm. Due to being included in five different multipacks, Shunt was released on more occasions than any other Robot Wars toy. Differences to the real robot One notable difference between this toy and the real robot is the colouring of the wheels. It is a common theme among these minibot toys that the wheels are the same colour as the main body, and this Shunt toy is no exception. The exhaust pipe on this toy points straight up also, whereas the top of it bends outward, facing the bulldozer blade. The axe is also painted gold on this toy, as though it is a part of the body, however Shunt sported a grey axe during the main series. This minibot appears to have a much higher ground clearance than its real life counterpart, because of the pullback motor underneath the body of this toy. Due to this, the static scoop is not flush to the ground, as seen in the above image. An often unnoticed aspect of Shunt in reality is that the plough end of the robot was actually the House Robot's front side, with the axe firing towards the rear of the machine, despite the robot finding more practical use out of its rear side. For convenience with play, the Shunt Minibot considers the actual House Robot's rear side to be the front of the machine, and the pullback motor is positioned to push the curved scoop side of Shunt forwards when released. This essentially means that the Shunt minibot operates "backwards" in motion, although the packaging of the Shunt minibot would portray the robot with its triangular plough facing forwards. Trivia *Although the pullback motor suggested that Shunt's curved bucket was the front of the machine, the packaging of the minibots still faced Shunt's triangular plough forwards, which was actually the front end of the real House Robot. Category:Minibots Category:House Robot Minibots